Magnetic fields are generally the result of either an electrical current flowing in a wire or emanate from a permanently or intermittently (an electromagnet) magnetized magnet. In both cases the morphology of the field is fixed, and only in fields that are generated by a current including electromagnets) can the intensity of the field be modulated.
If it is necessary to modulate a magnetic field, including its topology, one can revert in the current art to the mechanical rearrangement of existing field bearing devices, a cumbersome and limiting technique. Thus the concept of electronically modulating magnetic fields and their topology has remained foreign to the prior art.
The subject of the instant invention are devices that facilitate morphological and intensity modulation of magnetic fields by essentially electronic means.
I have found that it is possible to regulate magnetic fields without resorting to mechanical manipulation of fixed magnetic field forming devices by using superconducting elements that can be driven in and out of their superconducting phases either completely or partially (namely driven into the mixed state).
I have further developed a variety of devices in which the heart of the device is a superconducting element that can be switched in and out of the superconducting phase, with the result that a fixed magnetic field in which the said superconducting element is placed, is modulated at will, at least in the immediate vicinity of said element, by the modulation of the superconducting element magnetization.
I have also established that, as a rule, the use of a flat superconducting element is preferred, and that certain applications require the modulation of magnetic fields on such flat surfaces.